NASA's most famous observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope, will get a much anticipated life extension after all. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin announced on Tuesday that a space shuttle will be sent to upgrade Hubble and add a few years to the lifetime of the venerable queen of the sky.

NASA to save Hubble, to astronomers delight - New Scientist Space.

It’s difficult to both cheer and heave a sigh of relief at the same time, but I have to admit to a sensation akin to both upon reading this article.

Hubble is indeed in an entirely different orbit to that which the ISS occupies. Hubble’s orbit is much ‘flatter’ across the equator than the ISS and some 200 kms higher. NASA’s shuttles aren’t buses capable of making multiple stops along the way. From the time a shuttle leaves the pad in Florida it’s fuel load and longevity in orbit are pre-determined to a specific place and point in time. There is no additional fuel carried for orbital plane changes, which is what would be required were something to go awry. Once at Hubble, there’s only one other place for a shuttle to go, and that’s back down to Earth. There can be no taking refuge at the ISS.

Certainly, there is risk involved in going to Hubble for one last servicing mission to carry the old girl through until the James Webb Space Telescope is ready to replace her. From my perspective, and also that of a world full of astronomers, the risk is far more worthwhile than continual trips to a white elephant posing as a unified place in space where antagonist political ideologies can look as though diplomacy is a reality in space, if not on the ground.

The ABC has axed its popular comedy show The Glass House.

ABC News Online.

Here’s a prime example of Labor not effectively using it’s brains before engaging its collective mouth. Pg 77; Pg 79 and then Pg 83

Here's a little narcissicism.

Probably. Most privatisation of publically held instrumentalities under the current federal government have had elements of obscene haste about them – the Telstra debate stands out – sufficient to draw the tags of ‘unethical’ and ‘immoral’.

In the presence of senior American officials at a dinner at Canberra's Old Parliament House, Brendan Nelson warned the Australia-US relationship would suffer if Australia did not stay until the end with its allies in Iraq.

ABC News Online.

Chairman Beattie has urged all Queenslanders to get behind a combined Church campaign of prayer for rain, as an adjunct to water-saving efforts by constituents in this time of drought.

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie is welcome to attend tomorrow's crisis talks on the plight of the Murray Darling basin

ABC News Online.

It’s an afterthought, and a direct insult to the Premier of the State which has the most to offer to the Murray-Darling river system, through discussions on the massive water storage and catchement zones allocated to the cotton industry on the Queensland-NSW border.

This week, the Senate sits primarily to debate the private members bill promoted by Senator Kay Patterson(Lib) and supported in kind by Senators Natasha Stott-Despoya (Dem) and Ruth Webber (ALP). The Bill, Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction and the Regulation of Human Embryo Research Amendment Bill 2006, offers much hope for suffers of genetic disease, but poses deeply divisive ethical questions.

First Tuesday in November and the last thing on my mind, or in fact of interest to me, is the horse race which gives Melbournites a day off work. I'm much more interested in what the board of the Reserve Bank will say about Australia's climbing inflation rate.

A family friend last night said the decision to use a surrogate mother to give birth to their child was an "enormous" one for a politician.

Even bigger for a Labor pollie

 Stephen Conroy, Labor’s hard man, factional manipulator and shadow communications spokesman, is now a daddy. His wife, Paula Benson isn’t however, a mummy. Another woman is ‘mummy’ and a third woman was the oven. Strangely for me, as someone who doesn’t comprehend this seemingly mindless pursuit for immortality through loin-fruit, I’m happy for the Conroys. I can only hope that they too, are happy. Baking a bun with someone else's dough in somebody else's oven still gives you a bun at the end of the day……or baking……as the case may be.

A Victory for Freedom or a huge collective sigh of relief from the coalition leadership triumverate? I’ve noticed the few blogs that I scan have all made mention of the show trial verdict to hang Saddam Hussein. ‘What the hell’, I thought, ‘I’ll wade in too!’

Who owns the national anthem? And is it unpatriotic to play it in a context in which it could be ridiculed?

BBC NEWS.

Thankfully, we don’t have national anthem-playing dunnys in this country. Or perhaps we do and don’t give a shit about the noises they make. Maybe we don’t care about getting panned if our water closet plays Advance Australia. If you really think about it, this article puts a whole new slant on the terminology, ‘girt by sea’.

Hey, sue me! I don’t get these flashes of comedic brilliance very often.

A one thousand year drought. That’s how the water summit held today in Canberra views the current dry in Australia.

The Prime Minister, John Howard, says he does not like the interest rate rise any more than any borrower.

ABC News.

I am always amused when the Prime Minstrel makes any attempt to draw himself alongside the ordinary ‘battler’ in Australian society. The man doesn’t even have a home mortgage, let alone a job which pays a pittance and falls subject to punative industrial relations legislation. Yet he sings as if he does, and is.

Donald Rumsfeld is the first of the scapegoats America's now proven lame-duck President will create in response America's electorate's sharply defined rejection of his policy on the Iraq war.

Mr Howard made it clear he respected Bono's rock star status but that respect only went so far: "I don't accept preconditions from anybody."

Herald Sun.

Mikhail Gorbachev didn’t object. Bill Clinton didn’t object, Even ‘Dubya’ didn’t object to meeting with Bono to discuss global poverty and the importance of developed nations honouring the already agreed 0.7% of GDP allocation to resolution of global poverty.

Little Johnny Howler does, however. The arrogance of the man knows no bounds.

Amidst the passing of a resolution in the Senate for David Hicks to be brought home, Phillip Ruddock finally agreeing to speak directly with Terry Hicks, Attorneys-General meeting in Perth also calling for Hicks to be released & brought home, Little Johnny Howler states that Hicks cannot be tried here in Oz for alleged crimes which weren't crimes at the time he was captured as a POW, nor are crimes against US civil law.

My only response is - "So What?!!"

I missed the news last evening due to visitors, alcohol and good chat. I did, however, manage to catch the last legs of the interview on Lateline between Maxine McKew and Bob Carr, former NSW Premier and self-confessed avid Ameriphile.

Many people don’t like Carr because of his politics, or his almost sycophantic love of all things Americana, his passion for Gore Vidal or any number of other excuses to belittle a man who obviously has intellect. Whether or not he made a fist of political life in NSW is irrelevant to me. I’m a Queenslander. However, ten years at the top of the tree in State politics has to speak volumes for the man, if not his political bent. I happen to like listening to him speak. He’ll never speak on a subject which he isn’t 100% full bottle on, and when he does speak, it’s with assuredness, confirmation and authority. In other words, he’s worth a listen. Seeing as I missed most of the interview, I’ve downloaded the whole thing from the Lateline site. Thank you, Aunty. Despite having to appear even more politically correct than ever under the Howardian appointed Managing Director, your services are still well and truly worth my eight cents each & every day.

Carr – avid American watcher and aficianardo that he is – pulled no punches. In my experience, he rarely does. Damning the Bush administration for its adventurous, expeditionary, evangelistic zeal for spreading the message of truth, justice and the American (Republican) way throughout the Middle-East. Blaming that zeal for wrecking America’s standing in the global community, which it most certainly has. His view on the adventurism of the Bush led, Cheney inspired lunacy which has seen America fail in Iraq, perhaps carrying on into a concocted scenario in Iran is more than a little disquieting.

I did find what he had to say about the forthcoming NSW state elections in March 2007, and the success of Morris Iemma, to be just a little wishful, as was his claims about Beazley winning off the back of IR, Climate Change, etc. Not that I’d decry any socialist victory, but I find those two to be long bows, quite frankly.

It was good to see and hear him speak again. It’s interesting that the media, and not just our dear Aunty, seek out our former political leaders more and more often these days. Surely a sign that the current incumbents can’t be trusted to speak their minds honestly any more. I for one will be watching the predictions of Bob Carr – America in the M/E, Iemma in NSW and Beazley in the Federal sphere – with renewed interest.

On the Iraq front, it seems that Bob Carr was right. The American military look likely to take over the formulation of policy in regard to that non-quagmire quagmire. Not before time either. In fact, immediately the flowers and sweets failed to materialise in March 2003, the Military ought to have been handed the reigns by the politicians who wouldn’t know shit from clay about military sponsored regime change.

The adventure in Iraq has failed. To my mind, was always bound to fail. The similarities between Iraq and Viet Nam are too strong to ignore, despite the politicians all claiming other wise. Both will remain in history as foolish adventures in cultural confrontation, which America believed it could change through sheer military power. America is not a colonial power and never will be. She doesn’t have the ethos to manage, only dominate. Management takes finesse, domination takes only strength and ability. There hasn’t been an administration post WW2 which displayed more than rudimentary interest in management, only in domination. One without the other is always doomed to failure.

Now for the exit from Iraq. Hopefully, soon, before too many more lives are wasted in this futile exercise in empirical fervour.

I sort of half-watched Insiders this morning, having begun a water change in the aquariums just as the program started. The guest was only Peter Costello, someone I regard as an also-ran on the Australian political scene, so nothing missed there. However, when I heard him mention climate change, I stopped what I was doing and paid attention.

The day in question being last Tuesday, November 7, 2006. A momentus day for United States politics, but also for the global community. The Neo-Con experiment can be now seen to have failed and failed spectacularly with great loss of life, enormous expense and ruination of reputation of not only a nation and culture, but many, many individuals as well. All due to adventurism and some mis-led evangelistic fervour for a world dominated by Pax Americana.

The Prime Minstrel is singing sadder tunes these days.

 "We will not interpret this decision as being any sort of constitutionally green light to legislate to the hilt," John Howard on the High Court ruling dismissing the States and Union case against the use of Corporations powers by the Commonwealth. –ABC News

I’m in agreement with Peter Beattie and Mike Rann, in their calls for a constitutional convention in the aftermath of yesterday’s high court decision validating the governments Workchoices legislation in constitutional terms. Justice Michael Kirby, one of two dissenting judges, said it well.

"once a constitutional Rubicon such as this is crossed, there is rarely a going back".

This decision places enormous pressure on the constitutional federalism this country enjoyed before yesterday morning. John Howard’s claim, and I notice today, Peter Costello’s claim, that this government doesn’t want to take this decision any further in constitutional terms, doesn’t mean that it won’t. This decision opens doors, or more pertinently, opens a Pandora’s Box. Kim Beazley may well tear up the Workchoices legislation, however, the precedent has now been set. Governments post-Howardian now know they can exploit the constitutional gift of the Corporation’s Powers. Australia’s constitution, such as it is in these days, is sorely in need of amendment, in my view.

Last weeks High-Court ruling, denying a man the right to re-dress an unjust child support situation and claim against his former wife for financial loss and damage, has raised the ire of Alby Schultz, federal Liberal backbencher. This ludicruous ruling, which overturns on appeal a previous win for Mr Liam Magill, who took action against his former wife for deceit, shows clearly the built-in bias in Australia's family law statutes in favour of women.

“This is an historic case, and I consider this his confession,”

CBS News.

So says the publisher of O.J.Simpson’s tell all supposed confession. His“if-I-did-it-this-is-how-I’d-have-done-it” story about the sensationalist murder trial of the mid `90’s is about to be released, to the collective chagrin and disgust of the families of Nicole Brown-Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman. O.J.Simpson was acquitted of murder in the long-running Hollywood-production-like trial due to the circumstantial nature of much of the evidence presented, and the science of DNA typing being in its infancy. Undoubtedly, had he been subject to scientific trial today, he’d be facing life behind bars at the very least.

That said, the families of the victims, who took out and won a civil suit against Simpson for financial damages caused by their family member’s deaths, to the extent of US$33m. Simpson hasn’t paid a cent, as his NFL pension and home cannot, under US law, be forfeit in payment. What happens to the US$3.5m he’ll net from this book and accompanying television extravaganza being bankrolled by Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Network, will doubtless be the subject of ongoing legal contests.

This truly bizarre set of circumstances virtually allowing Simpson to profit from what is reputedly to amount to a confession, stems from American constitutional law which forbids the re-trial of anyone previously acquitted of the same crime. Double jeopardy. We have the same, or similar laws here in Australia, which are constantly under challenge from those who would see the legal sanctum abolished. The Simpson case, however, is really out there, with the immediately subsequent civil trial by jury finding Simpson responsible for the deaths, but unable to impact on the criminal acquittal.

So, now Simpson gets to tell all and profit from the exercise. Nino Carlotta said it all, but not in relation to the American culture. They truly are a weird mob.

As a matter of habit, I listen to Radio National programs in the form of Podcasts. Two reasons. Podcasting is convenient method of lulling me off to sleep after a mentally stressful day, and I enjoy several RN programs, not the least of which is “Late Night Live”. Without the benefit of podcast files, I’d be missing out on what I consider to be important issues, such as this program on Phillip Adams' show.

The neo-conservatives who helped convince President George W. Bush that the US military could be used to spread democracy are now lashing out at what they see as the incompetent way the Bush administration has fought the Iraq War.

I heard this story on the morning news. I can’t say I was at all surprised, at least not that the Neo-Con dream of a Pax-Americana turned out to be a nightmare. I am surprised though that the architects of the Iraq Invasion, the people who first pushed and petitioned for the seeding of American-style democracy through armed regime change should turn on the person they deliberately setup as their scape goat so quickly after the Republican stranglehold of that very same American democracy at home was broken.

"While I think it's probably not viable at the moment, I think it will become viable within a 10- to 15-year time frame. And I think that's why we have to start planning now because if we were to leave it 10 to 15 years to start planning for the construction of these facilities, by then it may well be too late."

Thus spake  Martin Blakeman from the mining company Newera Uranium following the release and presentation of Ziggy Switkowski’s report on the Prime Ministerial Taskforce on uranium mining, processing and nuclear energy.

You really do have to ask yourself who pulls whose strings when it comes to deciding who comes to this country, and the manner in which they come.

Currently listening to ABC Radio National’s Saturday Extra. Geraldine Doogue’s style makes this radio current events and political expose` style program well worth catching. Today’s subjects – a nuclear Iran. Is it worth tolerating or removing?

The so-called ‘Cold War’ ended with the nineth decade of the 20th century. Glasnost and Perestroika instigated by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985 led the world to believe that a new openness was pervading the former Soviet Union, leading to a better relationship with the western world in both political and social terms. Ian Fleming would feel sadder today then when he wrote his Bond novels. Or would he?

Recent amendments to Pakistan’s Hudood ordinance which virtually makes rape a forgiveable crime under Sharia Law, seem to go at least some way towards women of that Islamic country attaining some measure of protection under law.

Reading through this article on the Times Online, I can’t help but feel that while Pervez Musharraf is clearly making good political ground with western observers, this latest accession to women’s rights is a carefully measured adjustment of Pakistan’s social scales, and little else. Any program of continual advancement of women’s rights will have to be supported from without Pakistan, I feel, as the will in that tribal, male-dominated society – which still urges adoption of Sharia Law under most circumstances – simply isn’t strong enough for progressive change to continue from within on its own.

At least now women who cry rape, do have somewhere, in law, to stand.

The findings of Commissioner Terence Cole from his inquiry into “certain Australian companies in relation to the UN Oil-For-Food Program” have been delivered. After having been advised 35 times of seemingly untoward occurrences taking place in regard to Australian grain exports to Iraq, before, during and after the coalition invasion of that country, the Howard government and its officers has been found to be clear of criminal involvement.

Let's take a good close look at this little piece of sleight-of-hand by a corporatised former government instrumentality, and arguably the largest of the Big 4 banks in Australia today.

 Tracey Spicer is one of the most experienced and credible news presenters on Australian commercial television, with a career spanning 20 years, encompassing newsreading, documentary making, reporting, and radio broadcasting.

Your Bannerman spends a great deal of the working day listening to ABC Newsradio, either for it’s news content, or more particularly for the broadcasts from Parliament House in Canberra. While many may not consider such broadcasts rivetting listening, I personally find it fascinating to take in the machinations of our elected representatives. Particularly Question Time over lunch. It makes for some light entertainment to laugh at the ‘Dorothy Dixers’ and arrogantly ignorant rejoinders from the Government benches to questions posed by the Opposition.

Your Bannerman has been carousing the OzBlogosphere after a long absence, even to the extent of venturing into the Dark Side.